


Incompatible

by d2fmeasurement



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-28 18:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3865060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d2fmeasurement/pseuds/d2fmeasurement
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Richard is dating Dinesh and Jared is dating Gilfoyle. Endgame is Dinesh/Gilfoyle and Richard/Jared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Richard had been trying to refill his water bottle in peace when Aly and Jason started picking on him. He sighed and planned on silently enduring all the taunting, as usual. But when they started saying “I bet you get lots of girls” “yeah, are the girls always throwing themselves at you, Richie?”, he decided he couldn’t take it anymore and said, “I actually have a boyfriend.”

  
He was surprised to see they actually looked embarrassed. “Oh...that’s cool.” “Yeah, that’s cool, dude.”

  
Richard was happy about this unexpected slight victory. He smiled as he watched them shuffle on, then turned around to see Jared Dunn looming behind him. He jumped, startled.

  
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Jared said. “I couldn’t help overhearing.”

  
“Okay,” Richard said. “You’re not gonna make fun of me now, are you?” he asked, uncertainly.

  
“No!” he said. “I’m also...I also have a boyfriend,” he said shyly. “It’s nice to meet someone else like me here.”

  
“Yeah,” Richard said, smiling a little.

  
“What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Jared asked him.

  
“Dinesh,” Richard said. “Um, what about yours?” He was enjoying talking to Jared but it was also awkward. This was the longest conversation he’d ever had with a co-worker.

  
“Gilfoyle,” Jared said. He noticed Richard wrinkle his nose a little at the ugly name. “It’s his last name,” he explained.

  
“Well, hopefully you don’t end up marrying him,” Richard said with a nervous laugh. He immediately frowned and said, “That was a rude thing to say. I’m sorry.”

  
“It’s okay. It’s a terrible name,” Jared told him.

  
Richard nodded and wondered if he should walk back to his cubicle now. “Well, uh, it was nice--”

  
“Would you and your boyfriend like to have dinner with my boyfriend and me some time?” Jared asked him. When he saw Richard’s look of surprise, he explained, “Like I said, I almost never meet other gay men.”

  
“Um...yeah, okay. That’d be cool,” Richard told him.

  
Jared grinned and said, “Great! Oh, quick warning, my boyfriend can have a somewhat difficult personality, at times. But I promise that deep down he’s very pleasant.”

 

 

 

“What if instead of having them over and cooking them dinner, we lure them into a secret room and keep them there as our prisoners? That might actually be fun,” Gilfoyle said.

  
“That’s very funny but could I have more of just a yes or a no on dinner?” Jared asked.

  
“Fine with me,” Gilfoyle said.

  
“And you won’t do anything to make everyone uncomfortable, right?” Jared asked.

  
“I’m gonna take a shower,” Gilfoyle said, walking away. He turned and asked, “Are you coming with me?”

 

 

 

“I don’t know. I hate going out,” Dinesh told Richard.

  
“It’s barely going out. There’ll be two other people there. That’s all,” Richard said.

  
“Still. Going out and talking to guys is the worst. That’s why I settled down with you,” Dinesh said. Richard did a double take and Dinesh quickly added, “And because I love you. Obviously.”

 

 

 

Gilfoyle opened the door and looked over Richard and Dinesh critically. “Yeah, you just would work at Hooli,” he said to Richard. Dinesh felt his heart speed up a little looking at this man.

  
“Hi. Can we come in?” Richard asked uncomfortably.

  
Gilfoyle silently led them in.

  
“Welcome to our place. Jared would want me to ask you to take your shoes off.” He gestured at some band posters on the wall and said, “These are mine. All the paintings of flowers and shit are Jared’s.”

  
“Oh, I love Radiohead,” Richard said.

  
Gilfoyle looked back at him and said, “Oh. That one’s Jared’s too. I forgot to mention that.”

  
“Hey, guys,” Jared said, walking into the living room. “I hope you’re being nice to them,” he said to Gilfoyle. He laughed but also looked worried.

  
“I’m always nice,” Gilfoyle said. “Is dinner ready?”

  
“Dinner is served,” Jared said cheerily, leading them to the table.

  
Everyone ate in silence for a while. Dinesh glared at Richard, silently communicating that this night was just as awkward as he’d imagined it would be.

  
“So, how did you two meet?” Richard asked.

  
Jared looked embarrassed and said, “It’s not a very good story...”

  
“What the fuck are you talking about? It’s your only good story,” Gilfoyle said. “Back when he was in college at Sarah Lawrence--”

  
“Vassar,” Jared said, knowing that Gilfoyle knew perfectly well what college he went to and this was just his way.

  
“Yeah,” Gilfoyle continued. “He came to see my band in concert. With his boyfriend.”

  
“You make it sound like I cheated,” Jared said.

  
“Yeah, because that way it sounds like you’ve done at least one cool thing in your life,” Gilfoyle said.

  
“We actually just talked,” Jared told him. He smiled fondly and said, “All night. We laid in bed in this awful motel room, just talking until the sun came up.”

  
Gilfoyle cringed and said, “You make it sound like a fucking Lisa Loeb music video. We weren’t pouring our hearts out and talking about feelings or something. I just kept finding out he hadn’t listened to all these bands and obviously I had to correct the situation. I mentioned the fucking Pixies and he just looked at me blankly. Why even go to college if you’re not going to get into the Pixies?”

  
“I love the Pixies,” Dinesh said eagerly.

  
“They’re okay. I was mostly bringing them up for historical significance and impact,” Gilfoyle said flatly.

  
“Jared, you really spent the whole night with Gilfoyle after going to that concert with your boyfriend?” Richard asked, feeling pretty intrigued by this guy.

  
“Yes,” he said with embarrassment. “It was inconsiderate but...someone asked me to come backstage. I was flustered and very flattered that he’d pick me out of everyone.”

  
“So you were, like, a groupie?” Dinesh asked, looking over Jared’s slacks and button up shirt.

  
“I guess so. I’d never heard punk rock before. It was very exhilarating. And his band was a pretty big deal. They were on an international tour,” he said.

  
“Popping down to the northeast United States from Canada is barely international,” Gilfoyle said, but he couldn’t hide a little pride at hearing the way Jared talked about him. Dinesh thought that was adorable.

  
“You’re from Canada?” Richard asked.

  
“Yeah, I moved down a while ago so I could keep banging Jared,” Gilfoyle said.

  
“Oh, man, Immigration Services is the worst, right? So annoying,” Dinesh said.

  
“I wouldn’t know. Never been,” Gilfoyle told him.

  
“Well, did you have a hard time getting your visa or...”

  
“Didn’t do that either,” Gilfoyle said.

  
Richard could see that Dinesh was getting angry, so he chimed in and said, “Dinesh is working on developing an app independently.”

  
“Yeah?” Gilfoyle asked with interest. “Me too,” he said. “I’m always telling Jared he should manage a start up instead of working for that soulless corporation, sucking Gavin Belson’s dick every day.”

  
Richard looked at Jared with alarm and said, “He’s talking about metaphorical dick sucking.”

  
“Which is way worse,” Gilfoyle murmured.

  
“I tell Richard the exact same thing,” Dinesh said. “His app is really good too but he feels like he has to hang onto the day job.”

  
“It’s just safe...” Richard murmured.

  
“Fucking pussy,” Gilfoyle said.

  
Dinesh laughed, then covered it up when Richard looked at him.

 

 

 

“That was nice. I’d hang out with them again,” Gilfoyle said as he got in bed.

  
“Really? You weren’t acting that friendly or personable,” Jared said.

  
“Have you met me?” Gilfoyle asked.

  
Jared laughed affectionately and got into bed next to Gilfoyle.

  
Gilfoyle gently kissed him and pulled his shirt up so he could kiss down his body. He pulled Jared’s boxers down a little and kissed his hip bone. He ran his hand over it, thinking about how pale and bony it was. Out of nowhere the thought popped into his head that Dinesh’s body was so different and for a second he imagined what touching him would be like.

  
Jared ran his hands through Gilfoyle’s hair and wondered for a moment what it would be like to feel Richard’s curls and have a soft cheek rub against him instead of the roughness of Gilfoyle’s beard.

  
Gilfoyle snapped out of it and looked up at Jared. “I love you,” he told him.

  
“I love you too,” Jared replied quickly.

 

 

 

When Richard and Dinesh were in bed, Dinesh wrapped his arms around Richard, pulling him close. Richard looked at him with surprise.

  
“Do you, um, want to...” Dinesh trailed off, surprised at how awkward he felt. He and Richard had never really discussed their current dry spell. They’d both sort of accepted it as a byproduct of being in a longterm relationship.

  
“Sure. I mean, yeah, yes, of course,” Richard said. As he started taking his clothes off, he asked, “What, um, what put you in the mood?”

  
Dinesh shrugged and said, “I just want to be with my boyfriend.”

  
Richard smiled at him and kissed him lightly. “I want to be with you too,” he said.

  
They kept kissing. Richard started rubbing Dinesh. He closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the feeling. He felt like something was wrong with him. Ever since he’d met Richard, he’d felt grateful to have him. Richard was cute and sweet and they had so much in common. He’d sometimes wondered if his sheer shock at meeting someone so great who actually liked him back had made him rush into things. As Richard stroked him, Dinesh let his mind wander. He started picturing flannel and hearing the sound of a rough, mean laugh.

  
When he started to get hard, he felt Richard’s breath on him. He opened his eyes and felt a wave of guilt. “I don’t know if I want to do anything tonight,” he blurted out.

  
“You don’t?” Richard asked with surprise, looking at his hardness.

  
Dinesh shook his head, then added, “I mean, I could do something for you, but you don’t have to...” He frowned. “I mean, would it hurt your feelings if I didn’t want to?”

  
“No, of course not,” Richard said, scooting away from him.

  
He closed his eyes and wondered if Dinesh had stopped him because he’d somehow sensed that Richard had been thinking about someone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinesh meets with Gilfoyle.

Gilfoyle wasn’t a social creature. For the most part, he loved that he spent 99% of his time in his dimly lit bedroom, alone. But, for some reason today he kept thinking about spending time with people. Well, one particular person, really.

He texted Jared, “Hey, do you have the number for your friend’s boyfriend? I thought maybe we could hang out since he doesn’t have a day job either.” 

Jared sent back, “You’re going to make a friend! Yay!” Gilfoyle cringed, feeling viscerally disgusted by that response. 

After Jared sent him Dinesh’s contact info, he texted Dinesh, “It’s Gilfoyle, from the other night. Wanna get lunch while our girlfriends are at work?”

Dinesh felt his heart flutter, feeling a guilty excitement from the fact that someone was being emasculated and it wasn’t him. He spent a long time typing out different responses and trying to make sure they didn’t sound too thirsty before finally settling on, “Yeah, sure.”

When they were at In-N-Out, Dinesh hungrily devoured his burger. “Mm,” he said happily. “So good.”

“You seem like you haven’t had one of these in a long time,” Gilfoyle observed.

“I haven’t,” Dinesh said. “These burgers make Richard throw up so we never come here. That, Pakistani food, blow jobs about 90% of the time. Not that that’s even been on the table lately…” He frowned. “I’m sorry. That was an overshare.”

“It’s fine,” Gilfoyle said.

Dinesh cautiously ventured, “I’m sure you know how it is. Long time relationships…” Jared and Gilfoyle had been together longer than he’d been with Richard, he was sure they must’ve had their dry spells. 

“Nope,” Gilfoyle said simply. Dinesh couldn’t help but feel disappointed, for a couple different reasons. “Lack of sex was never our problem.” 

Dinesh perked up. “So there is a problem, then?” 

Gilfoyle hesitated. He wasn’t used to opening up about this kind of stuff, but it might be nice to have someone to talk to. “Okay, I guess we’re doing this,” Gilfoyle said, setting his burger down and wiping his mouth. Dinesh leaned forward with interest. “Jared and I both don’t really have anyone else who cares about us in this world. I’m not saying that to be depressing or whatever, it’s just a fact. So, we needed each other and things happened really fast and now I think we’ll probably always be together just because...you know, neither of us is willing to rip away each other’s entire support system just because we’re maybe not fairy tale soulmates or some shit.” 

Dinesh stared at him sadly. All he could come up with to say was, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine,” Gilfoyle said. “I love him. A lot, in some ways. But, I don’t know, I guess if I could press a button that would make us wake up tomorrow as just best friends, I would. But, that’s never really an option.”

“That’s how I feel about Richard, I guess,” Dinesh said. “I’d never put it in words before but yeah.”

“Are you and Richard actually that close or do you just not want to have an awkward break up conversation?” Gilfoyle said. Dinesh recoiled under the power of Gilfoyle’s glare, although he wasn’t even sure if he was actually angry or that’s just how his face looks. 

Dinesh defensively murmured, “What’s the difference? I’m just saying...you don’t want to hurt people...I don’t want to hurt people.”

“I don’t care about hurting people,” Gilfoyle said. “I care about hurting Jared. That was my point. “

 

 

These tacos are so bland, Dinesh thought. Fucking Richard getting sick over everything. He looked at his boyfriend, the only person who’d ever been remotely interested in him romantic. Richard gave him a little smile and he immediately felt guilty. I should just get hot sauce for myself. There’s nothing stopping me from getting hot sauce for myself. Why do I just give up stuff for Richard and then get more and more bitter about it? I’m the problem in this relationship.

“This salsa is way too spicy,” Richard said. 

Dinesh sighed. He couldn’t help it. 

“How was hanging out with Gilfoyle today?” Richard asked.

Dinesh felt a weird panic, as though he’d been caught doing something wrong. “I-- how did you know about that?”

“Jared asked me for your number so he could pass it on to Gilfoyle,” Richard told him.

“Oh. Right. Of course,” Dinesh said. 

“So...how was it?”

“He’s intense,” Dinesh said. 

Richard laughed. “Yeah. Jared can probably do better.”

Dinesh wrinkled up his nose. “You think Jared is the one who can do better?” 

“Well, yeah,” he said. “His boyfriend’s kind of a weirdo. Don’t you think?”

Dinesh shrugged. “He seems like he loves Jared a lot. Kind of. In a way.”

Richard nodded. “Yeah, Jared rambles on and on about him too.”

Dinesh kept thinking about how intense Gilfoyle was about Jared. Even knowing what he’d said about wishing they were friends, the way he’d looked at Dinesh when he said how much he didn’t want to hurt Jared...He wondered what it was like to have someone direct that kind of intensity at him. 

Richard put his hand on Dinesh’s back. “Maybe we’ll be like that in five years when we’ve been together all that time,” he said. Dinesh looked up with surprise, wondering if Richard had been thinking the exact same thing as him.

Dinesh smiled and said, “I’m sure.” He gave Richard a quick kiss. As they worked on the dishes, he kept glancing at Richard. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that they would only get less and less passionate if they let this relationship last.


End file.
